Nine men running 10 miles while carrying a telegraph pole have raised hundreds of pounds for charity.

The volunteers from the military charity Pilgrim Bandits ran to the Royal British Legion in Greenhithe from Strood with the 65kg log on Saturday.

They estimate they have raised about £2,000 which will go towards helping to fund research into prosthetic limbs. Pilgrim Bandits supports amputee servicemen and women.

The runners were John Ball, Tony Springmore, Sam Chiverton, Matthew Tibble, Rob Wortham, Tony Barnes, Simon Bilsland, Solly Daniels, L-J and Richard Collins.

John Ball said: “We absolutely smashed our time this year. We were often early at our check points and had to wait to keep the timings going. Everyone worked really hard.”

They were greeted in Greenhithe by cheering people, including the mayor Sue Butterfill, ex-paratrooper Ben Parkinson and former SAS man Rusty Firmin.

Mr Firmin led a six-man team to rescue 26 hostages during the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege.